Any one hava advice for a Fearful Dog?
By ribbon1226
@ribbon1226 (192)
United States
June 8, 2009 5:29am CST
I have a 6 year old mix,part rat terrier, male and my best buddy in the whole world. He started out fearing noises such as thunder but now is so hyper sensitive about noises. He spends so much of his time inside, hiding. He is even afraid when someone has the hiccups or even says the word.
He has many hiding spots and I make sure they are all attainable for him because when he is fearful and can't hide he will try to crawl into impossible places.
I would love to see him a lot less fearful so he can be happy and feeling free. It just seems the fears keep growing.
Does anyone deal with this and if so could you share how you handle it? I would appreciate any pointers. He is such a sweet dog that does not deserve to feel all this fear.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@ribbon1226 (192)
• United States
9 Jun 09
Yes there is such a thing and we did try it. All I noticed was he would lie down and still shake and pant so I figured it was not much help. Maybe I will try again.
@x_Jo_x (1040)
•
8 Jun 09
I have a three year old border collie who is the same, except maybe not quite as fearful. I'm not sure how to help her either. Exposing them to that fear is suposed to help. She used to try and chase cars, i think because she was scared of them, so i sat by a road with her for an hour or two and she seems ok with them now. She has a big fear of dogs, and barks and snaps at them when they get too close. So at the moment im trying to expose her to them as much as possible. Think it is helping, but a very slow process. As for the loud noises, Mine also hates them. When there is fireworks she get so scared, I hate to see her like it and i wish there was something more i could do for her. My mum always says dont give her attention for it, because then they will do it more to get attention. The last time there was fireworks though she was panting so much, and shaking and i just hated seeing her like that. But i supose just try and be confident and i know there is some sound cd's out on the internet for sale, they play a range of every day noises. Maybe it might be worth investing in one of those. But i'm still trying to solve the problem myself lol, i will let you know if i acheive it!
The only other advise i can offer is to go a see a behaviourist about it. They might be able to offer some better advise on how to deal with it.
Good Luck =)
@ribbon1226 (192)
• United States
9 Jun 09
Thank you for your advice. What your Mom said is what I have heard and I am trying that. We just went through a bad storm and he hid in a crate of his and I just carried on as though nothing was happening. I hope this helps.
Thanks again and good luck with your issues.
